Beyran Soup — Spicy Gaziantep Lamb and Rice Soup

Place the 1.2 kg bone-in lamb shank in a large pot and cover with 3 liters of COLD water. Starting with hot water would immediately seal the meat’s surface and keep its flavor from enriching the broth. Bring it to a simmer over medium heat and skim all the gray foam from the surface; the broth becomes clear during these first 10 minutes, not later. Once the foam stops, add 1 dry onion, 2 bay leaves and 15 g salt. Reduce the heat until only an occasional bubble breaks the surface. Leave the lid slightly ajar and simmer for 3 hours.

Lift out the meat with a slotted spoon. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve, ideally lined with cheesecloth; about 2 liters of clear broth should remain. Let it rest for a few minutes, then skim off two-thirds of the fat from the surface, leaving the rest for flavor. Once the meat is cool enough to handle, remove it from the bone and pull it apart into strands with your fingers. After 3 hours, it is ready if it separates into strands when pulled without a knife. If it still resists, return it to the broth and simmer for another 30 minutes.

Rinse 200 g Baldo rice in lukewarm water until the water runs clear, then drain. Melt 30 g butter in a pot and toast the rice for 2 minutes. Add 350 ml hot broth and 4 g salt. Once it boils, reduce the heat, cover and cook for 12–14 minutes. When the liquid is absorbed, remove it from the heat, place a clean cloth under the lid and let it rest for 10 minutes. The grains should stay firm because the rice will boil once more in the serving pot; mushy rice will disintegrate in the soup.

Crush 6 garlic cloves (20 g) with a pinch of salt in a mortar until they form a paste. Grated garlic works, but chopped garlic does not. Melt 40 g tail fat (or butter) in a small pan over low heat. Remove the pan from the heat, add 2 tablespoon (15 ml) measures of Turkish red pepper flakes and stir them in the fat for 30 seconds. The fat should turn bright red. If it starts to smoke, the pepper has burned; the fat will taste bitter and ruin the soup. Discard it and start again.

For each single serving, put 4–5 tablespoon (15 ml) measures of rice in a copper or heavy-bottomed steel pot, then add 100–120 g shredded meat. Add 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of crushed garlic and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of spicy oil into each pot. Pour 250–300 ml boiling broth over the top; it must be boiling. Lukewarm broth takes longer to boil on the stove, and the rice may fall apart while you wait. Assemble all the pots at once, because the next steps take only minutes.

Set the pots directly over high heat and boil until the broth bubbles around the edges and the surface bubbles for 2–3 minutes. This brief boil mellows the raw garlic aroma and emulsifies the fat into the broth while leaving the red ring on the surface intact. Do not let the soup stand after boiling; the rice will absorb the broth and thicken the soup. Serve with a lemon wedge and a separate bowl of hot broth so each person can thin their soup if desired.